Sitting Bull - Native American History - HISTORY.com Google Born in the Grand River Valley in what is now South Dakota , Sitting Bull, or Tatanka Yotanka, received early recognition from his tribe as a warrior and man of vision. During his youth he joined in the usual tribal raids for horses against traditional enemies such as the Crow and Assiniboin. Did You Know? The Lakota Sioux often used several names over the course of their lifetime. In his youth, Sitting Bull was known as "Jumping Badger." Because the Hunkpapa lived and hunted north of the early routes of western travel, Sitting Bull had little contact with whites until the Santee Sioux uprising in Minnesota in 1862. When the defeated Indians were driven west to the plains, he heard from them what life was like on a reservation. In July 1864, he was one of the defenders when Gen. Alfred Sully used artillery against a Teton encampment at Killdeer Mountain. It was during this period that Sitting Bull formed his resolve to keep his people away from the white man’s world and never to sign a treaty that would force them to live on a reservation.

With other Sioux leaders he soon took his followers to the pristine valleys of the Powder and Yellowstone rivers where buffalo and other game were abundant. He continually warned his followers that their survival as free Indians depended upon the buffalo. During this time, Red Cloud of the Oglala subtribe was the leader of the Tetons, but Sitting Bull’s influence as a holy man was steadily growing. Beginning in the summer of 1865 columns of U.S. soldiers repeatedly invaded the Powder River country. Sitting Bull had occasional encounters with them, learning their ways of fighting, their strengths and weaknesses. After Red Cloud signed the Fort Laramie treaty of 1868, and then agreed to live on a reservation, his influence waned. Sitting Bull’s disdain for treaties and reservation life soon attracted a large following not only from the Sioux but from the Cheyenne and Arapaho. In 1873, he and Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer skirmished briefly while Custer was guarding surveyors for the Northern Pacific Railroad in Montana Territory. Three years later they met again on the Little Bighorn in the battle that made both men famous.

Sitting Bull was not a war leader in that fight, but he had predicted that many soldiers would fall, and his followers believed that his magical powers had brought the victory. Although Sitting Bull survived, an aroused and vengeful army forced him to flee to Canada. In 1881 he returned to the United States, surrendered, and was held as a prisoner of war at Fort Randall, South Dakota Territory. After two years he was permitted to live on Standing Rock Reservation where he continued to use his influence to keep Sioux lands from being taken by the government. In 1885 he traveled for a season with Buffalo Bill Cody’s wild west show. The rise of the Ghost Dance, a tribal religion that proclaimed that all whites would disappear and dead Indians and buffalo would return, brought him into disfavor with government officials in 1890 because he made no effort to stop the dancing at Standing Rock. When Indian police were sent to arrest him on December 15, 1890, Sitting Bull was killed in a melee outside his cabin. The Reader’s Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors.

Copyright © 1991 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Tags Sitting Bull Biography (Native American Leader) Died: 15 December 1890 (shot to death) Birthplace: Present-day South Dakota Best known as: The Lakota chief who beat General Custer at Little Bighorn Sitting Bull (also known as Tatanka-Iyotanka) was a Hunkpapa Lakota tribal leader in the mid-western plains during the westward expansion of American settlers in the 1800s. In the 1860s he fought efforts by U.S. troops to move the Lakota tribes west onto reservations. He earned a reputation as a fearless warrior and by 1868 was the chief of a united Lakota Nation. He fought U.S. general George Armstrong Custer in a battle at Little Big Horn on 25 June 1876. Sitting Bull led thousands of warriors from different tribes to a resounding victory over Custer, and the desperate battle was dubbed "Custer's Last Stand." Pursued by U.S.

troops, Sitting Bull fled to Canada, but he returned to Montana in 1881 and surrendered. After two years in prison, he joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show as a public attraction, but left after a few months to live on a reservation in South Dakota. Lakota policemen were sent to arrest him in 1890 to head off another uprising, and he ended up getting shot and killed in a struggle between the tribal police and his supporters. Copyright © 1998-2017 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved. Sitting Bull- the leader of the Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux Tribe - By admin Sitting Bull (c.1831-1890) was the Native American chief under whom the Sioux tribes united in their struggle for survival on the North American Great Plains. Following the discovery of gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1874, the Sioux came into increased conflict with U.S. authorities.

The Great Sioux wars of the 1870s would culminate in the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn, in which Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and a confederation of tribes would defeat federal troops under George Armstrong Custer. After several years in Canada, Sitting Bull finally surrendered to U.S. forces with his people on the brink of starvation, and was finally forced to settle on a reservation. In 1890, Sitting Bull was shot and killed while being arrested by U.S. and Indian agents, fearful that he would help lead the growing Ghost Dance movement aimed at restoring the Sioux way of life. Sitting Bull is remembered for his great courage and his stubborn determination to resist white domination. Born in the Grand River Valley in what is now South Dakota , received early recognition from his tribe as a warrior and man of vision. During his youth he joined in the usual tribal raids for horses against traditional enemies such as the Crow and Assiniboin. ”THE LAKOTA SIOUX OFTEN USED SEVERAL NAMES OVER THE COURSE OF THEIR LIFETIME.

IN HIS YOUTH, SITTING BULL WAS KNOWN AS “JUMPING BADGER.” Because the Hunkpapa lived and hunted north of the early routes of western travel, Sitting Bull had little contact with whites until the Santee Sioux uprising in Minnesota in 1862. When the defeated Indians were driven west to the plains, he heard from them what life was like on a reservation. In July 1864, he was one of the defenders when Gen. Alfred Sully used artillery against a Teton encampment at Killdeer Mountain. It was during this period that Sitting Bull formed his resolve to keep his people away from the white man’s world and never to sign a treaty that would force them to live on a reservation. With other Sioux leaders he soon took his followers to the pristine valleys of the Powder and Yellowstone rivers where buffalo and other game were abundant. He continually warned his followers that their survival as free Indians depended upon the buffalo. During this time, Red Cloud of the Oglala subtribe was the leader of the Tetons, but Sitting Bull’s influence as a holy man was steadily growing. Beginning in the summer of 1865 columns of U.S.

soldiers repeatedly invaded the Powder River country. Sitting Bull had occasional encounters with them, learning their ways of fighting, their strengths and weaknesses. After Red Cloud signed the Fort Laramie treaty of 1868, and then agreed to live on a reservation, his influence waned. Sitting Bull’s disdain for treaties and reservation life soon attracted a large following not only from the Sioux but from the Cheyenne and Arapaho.Three years later they met again on the Little Bighorn in the battle that made both men famous. Sitting Bull was not a war leader in that fight, but he had predicted that many soldiers would fall, and his followers believed that his magical powers had brought the victory. Although Sitting Bull survived, an aroused and vengeful army forced him to flee to Canada. In 1881 he returned to the United States, surrendered, and was held as a prisoner of war at Fort Randall, South Dakota Territory. After two years he was permitted to live on Standing Rock Reservation where he continued to use his influence to keep Sioux lands from being taken by the government. In 1885 he traveled for a season with Buffalo Bill Cody’s wild west show.

The rise of the Ghost Dance, a tribal religion that proclaimed that all whites would disappear and dead Indians and buffalo would return, brought him into disfavor with government officials in 1890 because he made no effort to stop the dancing at Standing Rock. When Indian police were sent to arrest him on December 15, 1890, Sitting Bull was killed in a melee outside his cabin. Source PBS - THE WEST - Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Tatanka-Iyotanka (1831-1890) A Hunkpapa Lakota chief and holy man under whom the Lakota tribes united in their struggle for survival on the northern plains, Sitting Bull remained defiant toward American military power and contemptuous of American promises to the end. Born around 1831 on the Grand River in present-day South Dakota, at a place the Lakota called "Many Caches" for the number of food storage pits they had dug there, Sitting Bull was given the name Tatanka-Iyotanka, which describes a buffalo bull sitting intractably on its haunches. It was a name he would live up to throughout his life.

As a young man, Sitting Bull became a leader of the Strong Heart warrior society and, later, a distinguished member of the Silent Eaters, a group concerned with tribal welfare. He first went to battle at age 14, in a raid on the Crow, and saw his first encounter with American soldiers in June 1863, when the army mounted a broad campaign in retaliation for the Santee Rebellion in Minnesota, in which Sitting Bull's people played no part. The next year Sitting Bull fought U.S. troops again, at the Battle of Killdeer Mountain, and in 1865 he led a siege against the newly established Fort Rice in present-day North Dakota. Widely respected for his bravery and insight, he became head chief of the Lakota nation about 1868. Sitting Bull's courage was legendary. Once, in 1872, during a battle with soldiers protecting railroad workers on the Yellowstone River , Sitting Bull led four other warriors out between the lines, sat calmly sharing a pipe with them as bullets buzzed around, carefully reamed the pipe out when they were finished, and then casually walked away. The stage was set for war between Sitting Bull and the U.S.

Army in 1874 , when an expedition led by General George Armstrong Custer confirmed that gold had been discovered in the Black Hills of Dakota Territory, an area sacred to many tribes and placed off-limits to white settlement by the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 . Despite this ban, prospectors began a rush to the Black Hills, provoking the Lakota to defend their land. When government efforts to purchase the Black Hills failed, the Fort Laramie Treaty was set aside and the commissioner of Indian Affairs decreed that all Lakota not settled on reservations by January 31, 1876 , would be considered hostile. Sitting Bull and his people held their ground. In March, as three columns of federal troops under General George Crook , General Alfred Terry and Colonel John Gibbon moved into the area, Sitting Bull summoned the Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho to his camp on Rosebud Creek in Montana Territory. There he led them in the sun dance ritual, offering prayers to Wakan Tanka, their Great Spirit, and slashing his arms one hundred times as a sign of sacrifice.

During this ceremony, Sitting Bull had a vision in which he saw soldiers falling into the Lakota camp like grasshoppers falling from the sky. Inspired by this vision, the Oglala Lakota war chief, Crazy Horse , set out for battle with a band of 500 warriors, and on June 17 he surprised Crook's troops and forced them to retreat at the Battle of the Rosebud. To celebrate this victory, the Lakota moved their camp to the valley of the Little Bighorn River , where they were joined by 3,000 more Indians who had left the reservations to follow Sitting Bull. Here they were attacked on June 25 by the Seventh Cavalry under George Armstrong Custer, whose badly outnumbered troops first rushed the encampment, as if in fulfillment of Sitting Bull's vision, and then made a stand on a nearby ridge, where they were destroyed. Public outrage at this military catastrophe brought thousands more cavalrymen to the area, and over the next year they relentlessly pursued the Lakota, who had split up after the Custer fight, forcing chief after chief to surrender. But Sitting Bull remained defiant.

In May 1877 he led his band across the border into Canada, beyond the reach of the U.S. Army, and when General Terry traveled north to offer him a pardon in exchange for settling on a reservation, Sitting Bull angrily sent him away. Four years later, however, finding it impossible to feed his people in a world where the buffalo was almost extinct, Sitting Bull finally came south to surrender. On July 19, 1881, he had his young son hand his rifle to the commanding officer of Fort Buford in Montana, explaining that in this way he hoped to teach the boy "that he has become a friend of the Americans." Yet at the same time, Sitting Bull said, "I wish it to be remembered that I was the last man of my tribe to surrender my rifle." He asked for the right to cross back and forth into Canada whenever he wished, and for a reservation of his own on the Little Missouri River near the Black Hills. Instead he was sent to Standing Rock Reservation , and when his reception there raised fears that he might inspire a fresh uprising, sent further down the Missouri River to Fort Randall, where he and his followers were held for nearly two years as prisoners of war.

Finally, on May 10, 1883, Sitting Bull rejoined his tribe at Standing Rock. The Indian agent in charge of the reservation, James McLaughlin, was determined to deny the great chief any special privileges, even forcing him to work in the fields, hoe in hand. But Sitting Bull still knew his own authority, and when a delegation of U.S. Senators came to discuss opening part of the reservation to white settlers, he spoke forcefully, though futilely, against their plan. In 1885 Sitting Bull was allowed to leave the reservation to join Buffalo Bill's Wild West, earning $50 a week for riding once around the arena, in addition to whatever he could charge for his autograph and picture. He stayed with the show only four months, unable to tolerate white society any longer, though in that time he did manage to shake hands with President Grover Cleveland, which he took as evidence that he was still regarded as a great chief. Returning to Standing Rock, Sitting Bull lived in a cabin on the Grand River, near where he had been born.

He refused to give up his old ways as the reservation's rules required, still living with two wives and rejecting Christianity, though he sent his children to a nearby Christian school in the belief that the next generation of Lakota would need to be able to read and write. Soon after his return, Sitting Bull had another mystical vision, like the one that had foretold Custer's defeat. This time he saw a meadowlark alight on a hillock beside him, and heard it say, "Your own people, Lakotas, will kill you." Nearly five years later, this vision also proved true. In the fall of 1890, a Miniconjou Lakota named Kicking Bear came to Sitting Bull with news of the Ghost Dance, a ceremony that promised to rid the land of white people and restore the Indians' way of life. Lakota had already adopted the ceremony at the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations, and Indian agents there had already called for troops to bring the growing movement under control. At Standing Rock, the authorities feared that Sitting Bull, still revered as a spiritual leader, would join the Ghost Dancers as well, and they sent 43 Lakota policemen to bring him in.

Before dawn on December 15, 1890 , the policemen burst into Sitting Bull's cabin and dragged him outside, where his followers were gathering to protect him. In the gunfight that followed, one of the Lakota policemen put a bullet through Sitting Bull's head. Sitting Bull was buried at Fort Yates in North Dakota, and in 1953 his remains were moved to Mobridge, South Dakota, where a granite shaft marks his grave. He was remembered among the Lakota not only as an inspirational leader and fearless warrior but as a loving father, a gifted singer, a man always affable and friendly toward others, whose deep religious faith gave him prophetic insight and lent special power to his prayers. Sitting Bull BOYCOTT Yahoo Search Engine and Mac Afee Virus Protection For Unfairly Labeling this and another Native American Web Site as "UNSAFE". Read Details ... Snow Owl, July 2003 ï¿½Sitting Bull, whose Indian name was Tatanka Iyotake, was born in the Grand River region of present-day South Dakota in approximately 1831. His nickname was Hunkesi, meaning "Slow" because he never hurried and did everything with care.

Sitting Bull was a member of the Sioux tribe, and he joined his first war party against the Crow at age 14. The Sioux fought against hostile tribes and white intruders. Soon, Sitting Bull became known for his fearlessness in battle. He was also generous and wise, virtues admired by his tribe. ï¿½ Sitting Bull became a leader of the Strong Heart warrior society, and he successfully increased Sioux hunting grounds. However, the U.S. army continually invaded this territory, creating problems within the native economy. From 1863 to 1868, the Sioux fought the army's encroachment. In approximately 1867, Sitting Bull became the first principal chief of the entire Sioux nation. Shortly thereafter peace was made with the U.S. government, although Sitting Bull refused to attend the peace conference or sign the treaty. The Fort Laramie treaty promised the Black Hills would remain in Sioux possession forever. However, in the mid-1870s, gold was discovered, and press reports brought a rush of prospectors. By 1875, more than a thousand prospectors were camping in the Black Hills . The government ordered the Sioux to their reservations.

They were given a deadline of January 31, 1876 , and anyone who did not comply was considered hostile. The demand was ignored by the Sioux and in March, General George Crook set up a camp in order to attack the natives. ï¿½ Sitting Bull and the Sioux realized they could not defeat the army alone, and they must stand with other tribes. They were joined by the Cheyenne and Arapaho, and on June 17, they forced a retreat of U.S. troops at the Battle of the Rosebud, then set up camp at Little Bighorn. After the battle, Sitting Bull performed an important religious ritual called a Sun Dance. The Sun Dance was a type of self-torture which included a loss of consciousness. When Sitting Bull emerged from his trance, he told of his vision of soldiers falling from the sky. ï¿½ Sitting Bull's prediction came true on June 25 when Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer led his soldiers into the village along the Little Big Horn River. By the end of the day, Custer and his army of more than 200 soldiers were dead. Sitting Bull thought by winning this battle, the U.S.

government would leave him alone, but the fight had just begun. As the battles continued, many of Sitting Bull's followers surrendered. However, Sitting Bull would not give up. Soldiers chasing him found a note that read "You scare all the buffalo away. I want to hunt in this place. I want you to turn back from here. If you don't, I will fight you again." ï¿½ In 1877, Sitting Bull and his followers escaped into Canada . However within four years, famine forced them to surrender. Sitting Bull was held as a prisoner of war for two years, before he was sent to join other Sioux at Standing Rock Agency in North Dakota . In 1885, Sitting Bull joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show and traveled throughout the United States and Canada . Some believe he was allowed to join the show to keep him away from the reservation. ï¿½ When Sitting Bull returned to the reservation in 1889, many natives had joined a new religion called the Ghost Dance. They believed an Indian messiah would return their lands and remove the whites. Because of this new religion, Indian police arrested Sitting Bull on December 15, 1890 as a precaution.

They planned to send him to prison, but when his warriors attempted to rescue him, Sitting Bull was killed. He was buried at Fort Yates . In 1953, his remains were moved to Mobridge , South Dakota .ï¿½ ï¿½ SPECTRUM Home & School Magazine. Biography for Kids: Sitting Bull Occupation: Chief of the Lakota Sioux Indians Born: c. 1831 in Grand River, South Dakota Died: December 15, 1890 in Grand River, South Dakota Best known for: Leading his people to victory at the Battle of Little Bighorn Biography: Early Life Sitting Bull was born a member of the Lakota Sioux tribe in South Dakota . The land where he was born was called Many-Caches by his people. His father was a fierce warrior named Jumping Bull. His father named him "Slow" because he was always very careful and slow to take action. Slow grew up as a typical child in the Sioux tribe. He learned how to ride horses, shoot a bow, and hunt buffalo . He dreamt of one day becoming a great warrior. When Slow was ten years old he killed his first buffalo. When he was fourteen, Slow joined his first war party.

In a battle with the Crow tribe, Slow bravely charged a warrior and knocked him down. When the party returned to camp, his father gave him the name Sitting Bull in honor of his bravery. Becoming a Leader As Sitting Bull grew older, white men from the United States began to enter his people's land. More and more of them came each year. Sitting Bull became a leader among his people and was famous for his bravery. He hoped for peace with the white man, but they would not leave his land. War Leader Around 1863, Sitting Bull began to take up arms against the Americans. He hoped to scare them off, but they kept returning. In 1868, he supported Red Cloud in his war against many of the American Forts in the area. When Red Cloud signed a treaty with the United States, Sitting Bull did not agree. He refused to sign any treaties. By 1869 Sitting Bull was considered the Supreme Chief of the Lakota Sioux Nation . In 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The United States wanted access to the gold and didn't want interference from the Sioux.

They ordered all Sioux that lived outside the Sioux Reservation to move inside the reservation. Sitting Bull refused. He felt that reservations were like prisons and he would not be "shut up in a corral." Gathering His People As the United States forces began to hunt down Sioux that lived outside the reservation, Sitting Bull formed a war camp. Many other Sioux joined him as well as Indians from other tribes such as the Cheyenne and the Arapaho. Soon his camp became quite large with perhaps 10,000 people living there. Battle of Little Big Horn Sitting Bull was also considered a holy man within his tribe. He performed a Sun Dance ritual where he saw a vision. In that vision he pictured "American soldiers dropping like grasshoppers from the sky". He said that a great battle was coming and his people would win. Shortly after Sitting Bull's vision, Colonel George Custer of the United States Army discovered the Indian war camp. On June 25, 1876 Custer attacked. However, Custer didn't realize the size of Sitting Bull's army. The Indians soundly defeated Custer's forces, killing many of them including Custer.

This battle is considered one of the great victories for the Native Americans in the fight against the United States Army. After the Battle Although the Battle of Little Big Horn was a great victory, soon more United States troops arrived in South Dakota. Sitting Bull's army had split up and soon he was forced to retreat to Canada. In 1881, Sitting Bull returned and surrendered to the United States. He would now live in a reservation. Death In 1890, the local Indian Agency police feared that Sitting Bull was planning to flee the reservation in support of a religious group called the Ghost Dancers. They went to arrest him. A gunfight occurred between the police and Sitting Bull's supporters. Sitting Bull was killed in the fight. Interesting Facts about Sitting Bull He worked for a time in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show earning $50 a week. He once said that he "would rather die an Indian than live as a white man." The Ghost Dancers believed that God would make the white people leave and the buffalo return to the land. The religion ended when many of the members were killed at the Wounded Knee Massacre. His birth name was Jumping Badger.

He was friends with other famous people from the old west including Annie Oakley and Crazy Horse. For more Native American History: Culture and Overview Sitting Bull Video - Sitting Bull - HISTORY.com Contact Us You're almost done! You will soon receive an activation email. Once you click on the link, you will be added to our list. If you do not receive this email, please contact us . To ensure delivery to your inbox, add us to your address book . Oops, there's a problem. This email address has previously opted out from receiving any emails from HISTORY and/or A+E Networks. If you changed your mind, please contact us . You have already subscribed to this list. If you completed your subscription and still have not received an email, please contact us . Oops, there's a problem. Tecumseh, Red Cloud and Sitting Bull: Three Great Indian Leaders By J. Jay Myers Many brave and wise Indian leaders appeared and gained respect and fame in the late 18th and early 19th century. Only a few of them, however, had the diplomatic skills and charisma to go beyond leading their own bands and their own tribes to form and lead intertribal alliances.

Tecumseh the Shawnee, Red Cloud the Oglala Sioux and Sitting Bull the Hunkpapa Sioux all had the right stuff to become legends. Born around 1768 somewhere near present-day Springfield, Ohio, Tecumseh developed an early hatred for the white man’s steady encroachment into Indian homelands. When he was 6 years old, after invading Virginia frontiersmen killed his father, his mother took him to the spot and cried out to him: ‘Avenge! Avenge!’ At age 12, too young to be a warrior, Tecumseh watched George Rogers Clark and some 1,000 men defeat his people and burn his town. Filled with bitterness, he swore vengeance on the Long Knives. By the early 1790s, white Americans were traveling down the Ohio River, turning north and settling on Shawnee hunting grounds. Tecumseh led raiding parties on white settlements and helped defeat two armies sent out to subdue the Indians. Officials in George Washington’s administration feared a great and powerful alliance of the tribes, and the president sent Maj. Gen. Anthony Wayne out to ‘tame’ the Indians.

At the Battle of Fallen Timbers, Tecumseh was the greatest rallying force for the Indians, many times stopping retreats and inspiring them to stand and fight, but he could not prevent a crushing defeat. Read More in Wild West Magazine Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!! Nor could he prevent chiefs of other tribes from signing the Treaty of Greenville, thus ceding all of what is now the state of Ohio and part of Indiana to the whites. After that there was a period of relative peace between 1795 and 1809. But during those years, William Henry Harrison, a military man who became governor of Indiana Territory, used liquor, oratory and ceremonial pomp to persuade various chiefs to surrender 50 million acres. By 1805, Tecumseh was traveling between the Appalachians and the Mississippi persuading other tribes to join his confederacy. He told Harrison: ‘The Indians were once a happy race, but now are made miserable by the white people, who are never contented, but always encroaching. They have driven us from the great salt water, forced us over the mountains and would shortly push us into the lakes.

But we are determined to go no farther.’ His oratory, of course, did not stop the white invasion, and Tecumseh decided to make use of the religious fervor being spread by his younger brother Tenskwatawa, called ‘the Shawnee Prophet.’ He planned to reform bad Indian habits, to abandon everything the white man had brought into the Indians’ lives, and to try to form a huge confederacy that would include every tribe in U.S. territory. Within three years the brothers had built Prophetsville, a very large town where the Tippecanoe River flows into the Wabash, and had persuaded many chiefs that this was the last chance to stop the white encroachment. But in 1809, some Ohio Valley chiefs signed the Treaty of Fort Wayne, ceding many square miles of land. Tecumseh decided it was time for action and told Harrison he must give back the land. The governor, of course, refused. Tecumseh thought the confederacy was not quite ready for military action and withdrew. He went south to get the final agreement from a number of tribes to join the alliance. British Indian agents were encouraging an Indian uprising against the Americans.

In 1811, Harrison decided to take action while Tecumseh was away, visiting the southern tribes Tecumseh had instructed Tenskwatawa not to fight Harrison, but the strong-arm governor provoked a battle at Prophetstown by moving troops to within 600 yards of the town. Insulted, the young warriors fought on November 7, 1811. Harrison’s troops won the Battle of Tippecanoe, and the next day they burned the great town, center of the confederacy. The Americans had destroyed the great alliance. Tecumseh rallied many Indians to the British cause and helped capture Detroit during the War of 1812, but he fell on October 5, 1813, at the Battle of the Thames (near present-day Thamesville, Ontario, Canada), while shouting encouragement to his warriors. The leading proponent of Indian unity was gone, and there was no one to replace him to oppose white settlement east of the Mississippi River. Half a century passed, and whites began to appear in droves west of the Mississippi.

Red Cloud, was born about a decade after Tecumseh’s death, and his Oglala Sioux followers were willing to talk with the whites. There could be peace if the white man stayed out of Sioux hunting grounds and stopped using the Bozeman Trail. The government called a council for the spring of 1866 at Fort Laramie, on the Platte River not far from the Wyoming-Nebraska border. Negotiations seemed to be going well until Red Cloud and his chiefs found out that Colonel Henry B. Carrington had arrived with 700 soldiers to build forts on the Bozeman Trail. The Federal peace commission learned that there could be no peace unless a treaty had the support of Red Cloud, who was respected not only by the Oglalas but also by the Bruls and other Sioux and by their Cheyenne allies. ‘The Great Father sends us presents and wants us to sell him the road, but the white chief goes with soldiers to steal the road before Indians say Yes or No,’ said Red Cloud. He then stormed out of the Laramie meeting. Read More in Wild West Magazine Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!

A real war began, with Red Cloud the head soldier. Red Cloud was the only Plains Indian who could gather so many confederates and keep them together long enough to wage a successful campaign against the white man’s incursions. He gathered 250 lodges of Sioux and Cheyennes in the cause, which provided him with about 500 warriors, and carried on continuous guerrilla warfare along the length of the Bozeman Trail. Seventy white people were killed, 20 wounded, and 700 horses, mules and cattle were taken. The soldiers stuck close to their forts. The Great White Father had to do something, so in 1868 he sent out a peace commission. Whites, according to the Fort Laramie Treaty, were to be banned from Sioux hunting grounds, and their forts were to be abandoned. After the soldiers left, the Indians had the satisfaction of burning the hated forts. The so-called Red Cloud War had been a victory for the Indians. There was relative peace until gold was discovered in the Black Hills in the mid-1870s and the government failed to keep out the white prospectors.

Red Cloud, who had come to recognize the hopelessness of challenging the overwhelming numbers of the white man, did not ‘go shooting,’ and that angered many of his people. Although he came to believe in compromise rather than war, Red Cloud never stopped fighting to protect the Sioux culture. Unlike Tecumseh, he did not go out in a blaze of glory. Red Cloud lived until 1909. But like Tecumseh, he had effectively resisted the white invasion…for a while. The Hunkpapa leader and holy man Sitting Bull replaced Red Cloud as the chief symbol of resistance on the northern Plains. Born in March 1831 near the Grand River (in today’s South Dakota), Sitting Bull tried to avoid whites until the situation became intolerable. Then he called for action, and many Sioux, Cheyennes and Arapahos were happy to follow his lead. In 1868 many divisions of the Sioux rejected Red Cloud’s peace with the United States and did something they had never done before — choosing one man to be the leader of all the Teton Sioux. His name was Sitting Bull. Crazy Horse, a leading warrior, was essentially second in command.

The Fort Laramie Treaty, however, largely kept an uneasy peace until all Indians were ordered to go to reservations by January 31, 1876, or be deemed ‘hostiles.’ That March, one of the columns of Brig. Gen. George Crook attacked a Cheyenne village not even on the list of hostiles. The survivors made their way to Sitting Bull up in Powder River country, and he gave them food and shelter. He decided the time for patience was gone. Sitting Bull sent messages to all Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho bands. He wanted them to join him. In the spring of 1876, he sent out small raiding parties to steal good horses, guns and ammunition, while the U.S. Army mounted a campaign to subdue all Plains Indians who were off their reservation. In June, Sitting Bull danced the Sun Dance until he fell unconscious and had a vision of soldiers falling like rain. Not only did he believe in his vision, but so, too, did most of the warriors around him. The Indians would fight the soldiers and be victorious! On June 17, Crazy Horse fought Crook to a standstill at the Rosebud.

Sitting Bull’s vision had not yet come true, but one of the leading white fighting men had been knocked out of the picture. Sitting Bull moved his great allied camp to find more plentiful food for his people and horses. (see ‘Sitting Bull’s Movable Village’ in the December 2000 Wild West). He eventually chose a place along the Little Bighorn River where the grass was good and there was game nearby. That is where Lt. Col. George Custer and the 7th Cavalry found them. Although Sitting Bull and his allies won a great battle, on June 25-26 at the Little Bighorn, they could not win the war. Most of the Indians, hungry and desperate, returned to the reservations the next year. Sitting Bull instead went to Canada, where he found peace for a while. On July 19, 1881, he, along with 187 followers, turned himself in at Fort Buford, Dakota Territory. Sitting Bull mostly stayed at the Standing Rock Agency beginning in 1883 and continued to have much influence.

When the Ghost Dance movement stirred up the Sioux in 1890, he became — at least in some eyes — a feared figure once more. On December 15, 1890, Sitting Bull died in a fight near his cabin on the Grand River when Indian police attempted to arrest him. Of Tecumseh, Red Cloud and Sitting Bull, which one was the greatest? Tecumseh’s widespread and powerful alliance was betrayed by his brother. Sitting Bull put together the most complete and famous single Indian victory. Red Cloud, however, actually defeated the U.S. Army over a long campaign and temporarily shamed it. The nod probably must go to Red Cloud. Read More in Wild West Magazine Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!! This article was written by J. Jay Myers and originally appeared in the October 2001 issue of Wild West. Significant Native American Leaders Blog Significant Native American Leaders The leaders of Native American tribes have played a significant role in the history of the United States, in particular its expansion across the North American continent.

While their lands were snatched up piecemeal by land-thirsty settlers, miners, and others, these brave leaders listed below, and many others, worked in battle and in peace to protect their land and their people. The following is a sampler of their efforts: Powhatan proved he could overcome most obstacles to co-exist with the Pilgrims. He also maintained peace with Jamestown settlers for many years, even after his daughter Pocahontas was kidnapped. Massasoit (Ousamequin) Narragansett Bay, Massachusetts Massasoit cultivated harmonious relations with the colonists, being especially helpful to the Pilgrims in their early travails. Powhatan; Confederation of Algonquin tribes Virginia Daughter of Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas supposedly saved John Smith `s life when he was threatened by tribal members. Her marriage to John Rolfe ushered in eight years of good relations between the Indians and the colonists. 1600s Lenape Nation New England Selling land to Roger Williams in 1636, Canonicus agreed to fight alongside the colonists in the Pequot War .

But in 1675, a Narragansett settlement was mauled in the Great Swamp Fight, greatly reducing Narragansett numbers and influence. Tamanend ; also "The Affable" Lenape Nation New England Tamanend, adopted by the colonists as a patron saint prior to the American Revolution , signed land treaties with William Penn in 1683 that later comprised Penn`s Woods ( Pennsylvania ). Chief of the Unami clan, he was immortalized with a statue in Philadelphia . Church bells in Philadelphia were rung to celebrate this "saint" on May 1. Metacom (known as Metacomet, Pometacom, King Philip) 1638-1676 Wampanoag Eastern side of Narragansett Bay Son of Massasoit, Metacom was forced to sign a new peace agreement at Taunton in 1671; Metacom`s dignity and unbending spirit impressed and frightened settlers. Violence led to King Philip`s War . Hostilities ceased when Philip (Metacom) was betrayed, captured, and brutally murdered.

Hancock or King Hancock New Bern, North Carolina Chief Hancock assembled 500 neighboring Indians to eradicate settlers for frequently raiding his village, kidnaping women and children, and selling them as slaves. Northern Tuscarora tribe chief Tom Blunt captured Hancock during the Tuscarora War and he was executed by settlers in 1712. 1700s Shawnee Northwest Territory Considered a leader of an "inferior force," Blue Jacket opposed such labeling and emerged as the war leader of the Shawnee Confederacy. In opposition, General Anthony Wayne`s army moved out of Greenville (Ohio) with 2,000 regulars, known as the Legion of the United States, and 1,500 volunteers July 1794. A great battle took place the following month. Techumseh Shawnee Northwest Territory Tecumseh saw action at the Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794). Bitterly disappointed by his people`s plight, he refused to sign the Treaty of Greenville in 1795.

He joined the British in the War of 1812 , followed them as they were pushed back into Canada, and was killed in 1813 at the Battle of the Thames. Puget Sound, Washington Orator Sealth helped protect the small band of European-American Seattle settlers from attacks by other Indians. Because of his friendship and help, the settlers named their city after him. At the presentation of treaty proposals in 1854, the aging Chief Seattle delivered a widely remembered speech. Captured by members of the Hidatsa tribe as a girl and sold into slavery, Sakajawea and her young son traveled with husband Toussaint Charbonneau, along with explorers Lewis and Clark , on the Oregon Trail in 1805. Mangas Coloradas ("Red Sleeves") Southwestern New Mexico Mangas sought friendly relations with the miners at their Pinos Altos camp, who were under constant Indian threat. After they brutally beat him, Mangas and Chief Cochise drove the miners out. Mangas met with a militia officer in 1863, was taken to Ft.

McLane, imprisoned, and brutally killed "while trying to escape." 1800s Brulï¿½ Lakota (Sioux) Wyoming Chosen to represent the Lakota at the Ft. Laramie treaty council in 1851, Conquering Bear advocated peace. He was shot after refusing to turn over the Miniconjou Lakota warrior who had killed and eaten a stray cow from a Mormon wagon train. South Dakota American Horse served with Chiefs Crazy Horse , Sitting Bull , and others during the Plains Indian War. During the Bozeman Trail War (Red Cloud`s War, 1860s), American Horse rode with Red Cloud, served as a principal military leader at the Battle of the Little Big Horn , and was killed in the massacre at Slim Buttes. Hototo (also: Lean Elk, Little Tobacco, and Poker Joe) ?-1877 Nez Percï¿½ Montana War chief with Chief Joseph, Hototo was chosen trail boss and guide of the Nez Percï¿½ after the Battle of the Big Hole that spurred his people on a 500-700 mile journey to the Missouri River with most surrendering at the Battle of Bear Paw.

During that battle, Hototo was mistakenly killed by friendly fire. Florida Leader of the Second Seminole War, which began because of Oceaola`s refusal to sign an 1835 treaty after he was released from prison. Fighting continued 20 years after he died in a Charleston, South Carolina , prison in 1838. He was buried with full military honors. Leschi Nisqually Western Washington State Once an advocate of peaceful negotiations with Indian agents, Chief Leschi entered the Puget Sound Indian War after his tribe`s land rights were terminated, and they were assigned to a small parcel of scrubland away from their home in 1855. Leschi was hanged three years later. Dohasan (Tohausen, Tï¿½h-tï¿½ot-sah, and Sierrito) 1805?-1866 Indian Territory ( Oklahoma ) and Texas Dohï¿½san was the son of Chief Dohï¿½ (Bluff), and a significant member of a long line of Kiowa chiefs. A leader for more than 30 years, Dohï¿½san was celebrated as a fierce warrior and an insightful administrator.

He also signed several treaties. Dull Knife (Morning Star, Tahmelapashme, Woheiv) 1810?-1883 Northern Cheyenne Montana, Oklahoma, Colorado , Black Hills Dull Knife signed the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. He fought in the Colorado Cheyenne-Arapaho War; and War for the Black Hills, which included the Battle of the Rosebud , Battle of the Little Big Horn , and others. Satank (Setankeah or "Sitting Bear") 1810-1871 Kiowa South Dakota and Oklahoma Satank was a leader of the Koitsenko (Crazy Dog) warrior society and fought intertribal wars while in his twenties. In 1867, he represented the Kiowa at the Medicine Lodge Treaty council. Chiricahua Apaches American Southwest Drawn into conflict during the Bascom Affair, Cochise became chief after father-in-law Mangas Coloradas was killed in 1863. He fought a relentless guerrilla war against U.S. cavalry for nine years, until signing a treaty that established a reservation on his native land.

Kiowa Oklahoma, Kansas , Colorado, Texas Leader among his tribe`s militant minority during the 1860s and `70s, Lone Wolf rallied in Washington, D.C. with other chiefs and signed the Little Arkansas Treaty. After agreeing to negotiate with Custer, he was held hostage at Fort Cobb. He secured the parole of Santana and Big Tree. Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Black Hills, South Dakota After the Sioux Wars (1876-1877), Big Foot advocated for adapting to the white men`s ways while retaining Lakota traditions. He was a strong Ghost Dance -resurgence proponent and was killed at the Wounded Knee Massacre after surrendering. Red Cloud (Makhpiyaluta Scarlet Cloud) 1822-1909 Nebraska , Montana, Wyoming , South Dakota Aiding in the U.S. government`s policy change from military pacification to one of negotiation, Red Cloud was used to persuade Crazy Horse in 1877 to surrender, only to see Crazy Horse slain in custody. He agreed to relocate his people to the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1878. Until his death at 87, Red Cloud continued to lobby from Pine Ridge.

Spotted Tail (Sinte Galeska and Jumping Buffalo) 1823-1881 Brule tribe of the Sioux Nation South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado Territory While in prison at Fort Laramie, Spotted Tail learned to read and write. He was a signer of the Fort Laramie Treaty. As adminstrator and head chief of his people, he maintained an Indian police force that kept alcohol off his reservation, and condemned threats to force the Lakota to Indian Territory. Absaroke, or Mountain Crow, tribe Montana and Wyoming Bull Chief used non-traditional techniques for spiritual and hunting successes. He was distinguished in battle against tribal enemies and recognized as the bravest warrior during the height of the buffalo culture. Victorio Arizona , New Mexico Victorio served with Mangas Coloradas and assumed the leadership position after Coloradas` death. He played a key role in the 1870s Apache uprisings. Geronimo (Goyathlay: "one who yawns") 1829-1909 Chiricahua Apache Arizona, Indian Territory, New Mexico An Apache shaman, Geronimo became chief after Cochise`s death.

When he and his followers were captured in 1886, they were forced to cut their hair, wear Western clothes, and were shackled while being transported to Alabama . He later traveled to national expositions and was a symbol of resistance to white domination. American Horse, the Younger (Wasechun-tashunka) 1830?-1908 Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Black Hills, South Dakota American Horse championed accommodation with the encroaching whites. He signed the treaty secured by the Crook Commission in 1887, which forced the Lakota to abandon half their reservation in Dakota. Santana (Set-tainte or White Bear Person) 1830-1878 Kiowa Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas , Oklahoma Santana negotiated numerous times with the American government and signed such treaties as the Little Arkansas (1865) and Medicine Lodge (1867). He fought a protracted war before settlers, miners, and others finally overwhelmed his tribe`s land.

Sitting Bull (Jumping Badger, nickname Hunkesi, Tatanka-Iyotanka) 1831-1890 Hunkpapa Lakota (Sioux) North Dakota Originally a medicine man, Sitting Bull became the first principal chief of the entire Lakota Sioux nation in 1868. Remembered as one of the greatest Indian leaders, he battled the land agreements of 1888 and 1889, which threw half the Great Sioux Reservation open to white settlement. Nez Percï¿½ Pacific Northwest During the Nez Percï¿½ War, Looking Glass was one of the war chiefs who helped lead his people during their long flight to freedom across the Canadian border in 1877. He attempted to demonstrate neutrality and abstained from the conflict between the non-treaty Nez Percï¿½ bands and the U.S. government. Rain in the Face (Ito-na-gaju) 1835-1905 Hunkpapa Sioux within the Lakota Nation Dakota Territory, Wyoming and Montana Rain in the Face was one of the Sioux`s greatest and most respected war heroes.

As a war chief, he was among the Indian leaders who vanquished George A. Custer and his U.S. Army 7th Cavalry regiment at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Gall (Matohinshda: "Bear Shedding His Hair" and Pizia) 1840?-1894 Hunkpapa Teton Sioux South Dakota Orphaned by Sitting Bull, Gall played a leading role in the Lakotas` long war against the U.S. As a Hunkpapa Teton Sioux leader, he also was a commander of the Native American cavalry forces at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Gall was one of the most aggressive Sioux leaders in their last stand. Joseph (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt, In-mut-too-yah-lat-lat 1840-1904 Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana Chief Joseph, an advocate of peace, helped lead his people, along with Chief Hototo, on a 500-700 mile journey to the Missouri River. He surrendered at the Battle of Bear Paw after which he uttered his famous remarks.

He campaigned for a return to his homeland in the Wallowa Valley until his death. Nez Perce Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana Son of Chief Joseph, Ollokot played an important role in the peace initiative at Fort Walla Walla in 1877. Throughout the Nez Percï¿½ War, with never more than 250 warriors, he fought some 20 engagements and five major battles against forces of about 2,000 soldiers and others. Ollokot was killed in combat at the final battle on Snake Creek. Crazy Horse (also: Curly, his boyhood name and Tashunka Witko) 1844-1877 Lakota (Sioux) South Dakota Crazy Horse was one of the youngest Lakota in memory to receive the title Shirtwearer, one of the highest honors and responsibilities accorded to males. Committed to safeguarding the Lakota tradition and principles, he led a group of approximately 1,500 Lakota and Cheyenne in the Battle of Rosebud and a band in the Battle of Little Big Horn. Except for Gall and Sitting Bull, he was the last important chief to yield.

Manuelito (Hastiin Ch`il Haajinï¿½, Man of Blackweed) 1818?-1884 Navajo Arizona, New Mexico Manuelito, an important Navajo leader and spokesperson, opposed the killing of 60 cattle by U.S. soldiers, which eventually led to the infamous "Long Walk" to Bosque Redondo Reservation. On the 350-mile trail of death, 200 died or were killed. He witnessed the deaths of 2,000 Navajos at Bosque. He was noted for his dedication to quality education for his people. Kamiakin Yakana Indian Nation Western Washington State Kamiakan called upon tribes to oppose the 1855 Yakama Treaty, which led to the Yakima War. Along with other local Indians, they held off U.S. soldiers for about three years. In 1858, at the Battle of Four Lakes near Spokane, the Indians were decisively defeated. Kamiakan escaped to Canada.

Kicking Bear (born: Mato Wanartaka) 1853?-1904 Oglala Sioux, then Minneconjou Sioux sub-chief Montana Medicine man Kicking Bear participated in several battles during the War for the Black Hills, including the Battle of the Little Big Horn. He brought the new Ghost Dance to his people and aided in its revival. He toured with Buffalo Bill Cody`s Wild West Show in 1861 to have his sentence commuted. Ishi Nevada Having a strong background in Christian and Paiute spirituality, Wovoka revived the Ghost Dance. He was inspired to action after witnessing his people demoralized by defeat, subjugation, oppression, and segregation. Visitors from many places came to see his updated version of the Ghost Dance. Black Elk (Hehaka Sapa, Nicholas Black Elk) 1863-1950 Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Northern Great Plains In 1886, famous holy man, traditional healer, and visionary, Black Elk joined Buffalo Bill Cody`s Wild West show. Black Elk witnessed the Wounded Knee Massacre and produced two literary works.

Jim Thorpe Potawtomi Oklahoma Jim Thorpe won medals in the 1912 Olympic games in Sweden that were later stripped. He also played professional football and baseball. His feats on the football field put him on the 1911 and 1912 All-American Football teams. Dan George Tsleilwaututh Burrard Reserve, Vancouver Island Actor as well as a spokesman for his people, Dan George was nominated for Academy Award Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Little Big Man." 1900s Stillaguamish Western Washington State Esther Ross campaigned for 50 years for her people`s rights. Tribal membership rose from 29 to 160 before her death. She established fishing rights for the Stillaguamish, obtained federal recognition, and gained treaty rights that made them eligible for federal benefits. Bob Satiacum Puyallup Western Washington State Bob Satiacum, host of many "fish-ins" by the Puyallup and a user of other tactics, secured treaty-guaranteed fishing rights for his people after a 30-year fight.

Satiacum secured the return of 20 acres and $77.25 million in tribal claims. Wilma Pearl Mankiller (A-ji-luhsgi, Asgaya-dihi) 1945- Oklahoma, California, Arkansas Wilma Pearl Mankiller, first female leader of Cherokee, brought social and economic changes to her people. Reared in poverty, Mankiller received the Presidential Medal of Honor from President Bill Clinton in 1998.

Question: Sitting Bull was the leader of which native American tribe?
Answer: Sioux